NEWS
By From Sun news services | March 5, 2009
Hargitay hospitalized for lung problem Actress Mariska Hargitay was hospitalized yesterday after complaining of chest pains, according to several Internet reports. The Law & Order: SVU star had suffered a collapsed lung in January. Her representative told Us Magazine's Web site, "Mariska Hargitay went to the hospital this morning after experiencing some discomfort relating to her earlier lung condition. She is undergoing routine tests and expects to be feeling better soon." Lil Wayne off the hook A judge in Atlanta has dismissed felony drug charges against rapper Lil Wayne.
NEWS
By Rashod D. Ollison | November 27, 2008
Q-Tip wants to put "new flavor in your ear." In the process, he hopes you feel the love, too. The rapper's engaging new album, The Renaissance, glows with loving, downright sunny sentiments often unheard these days in mainstream hip-hop - or any other urban style, for that matter. With all the talk of hope surrounding the historic presidential election of Barack Obama, it seems appropriate that such an album landed in stores on Election Day. "I felt the music needed to have a reawakening of the spirit," says Q-Tip, who plays the 9:30 Club in Washington on Sunday.
NEWS
By RASHOD D. OLLISON | November 4, 2008
Q-Tip [Universal Motown] **** cds Within six years, Jonathan Davis, better known as celebrated rapper Q-Tip, bounced around five different labels. And although he recorded a wealth of material, none of it saw official release. Only one album, 2002's Kamaal the Abstract, came close to actually seeing the light of CD stores. But at the last minute, Arista, Q-Tip's label at the time, decided to shelve the project after promos had been sent out. It's a shame, because the album was a pointed and wickedly ambitious mash-up of soul-jazz, Beatles-inflected pop and New York-style hip-hop.
NEWS
By Rashod D. Ollison | October 30, 2008
He was thinking of a master plan. For Murs, signing with a major label wasn't about "selling out," and he certainly wasn't about to compromise his art too much. The underground West Coast rapper, an acclaimed independent artist for more than a decade, needed a bigger platform for his witty, richly metaphorical messages of perseverance and uplift. Warner Bros. Records certainly had the muscle, and last year the earnest artist signed on the dotted line. On Murs for President, his major-label debut released late last month, the rapper wanted to broaden his musical scope.
NEWS
By Rashod D. Ollison | June 12, 2008
Where was he? After 30 minutes stretched to an hour and then another 45 minutes, it seemed that Lil' Wayne, the acclaimed New Orleans rapper, was going to be a no-show. He was the headliner Wednesday night at 1st Mariner Arena, and it was also the same day his long-awaited album, the pop-driven Tha Carter III, hit stores. Maybe he was out celebrating the CD release with his homeboys and forgot there was an enthusiastic crowd, some of whom had paid as much as $200 a ticket, waiting to see him perform.
NEWS
By RASHOD D. OLLISON | May 8, 2008
I'm so over Kanye West and his eggshell ego. The rapper-producer was the subject of entertainment blogs last week after he threw yet another public diva fit. What ticked him off this time? A review -- a good one. Entertainment Weekly critiqued the opening show of his Glow in the Dark tour, which stops at Nissan Pavilion on Saturday. "West's commitment to communicating inner passions and identity crises is so consuming it nearly redeems any conceptual hokeyness," the reviewer said of the Seattle performance.
NEWS
February 1, 2008
71 Don Everly Singer 66 Terry Jones Comedian 40 Lisa Marie Presley Singer 40 Pauly Shore Comedian 33 Big Boi Rapper
NEWS
By Rashod D. Ollison | December 7, 2007
It was a difficult year for hip-hop star Kanye West and British soul revivalist Amy Winehouse, two of 2007's most visible artists. One is still grieving the sudden death of his mother while the other -- dogged by rumors of severe drug abuse -- has been battling health issues that forced her to cancel several shows. But at least professionally, the two will end the year on a good note as each garnered multiple Grammy nominations yesterday. West leads this year's nods with eight, followed by Winehouse with six. Veteran rockers Foo Fighters, celebrated rapper Jay-Z, quirky rapper-producer Timbaland, pop superstar Justin Timberlake and R&B singer-songwriter T-Pain all received five nominations.
NEWS
By Rashod D. Ollison | October 17, 2007
In the glut of awards shows, the second annual BET Hip Hop Awards already stands out - even before it airs tonight. Multiplatinum-selling, Grammy-winning rapper T.I., up for a leading nine awards, was arrested hours before he was to appear on the show, recorded Saturday in Atlanta. The rapper-actor born Clifford Harris was busted in the parking lot of an Atlanta shopping center, where he allegedly tried to pick up three machine guns, two silencers and a pistol from an undercover officer.
NEWS
By Brooke Hauser | October 9, 2007
NEW YORK -- When it comes to playing Biggie on the big screen, size matters. Take it from De'Andre Neal, a 6-foot-3, 315- pound bouncer with fingers as thick as Twix bars. The Brooklyn native was one of more than 100 hopefuls who turned out this past weekend for an open casting call on a soundstage in Manhattan's meat-packing district, trying to fill the size-13 shoes of Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Notorious B.I.G., in Notorious, a new biopic about the slain rapper. "Seriously, I saw people who shouldn't even be here," said Neal, 29, his voice so deep it could give you the bends.